New Hampshire lefty Richard Bleier worked five innings of one-run baseball, and left fielder Matt Newman clubbed a three-run homer to lead the Fisher Cats to an 8-5 victory over the Akron RubberDucks on Saturday at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

The Indians have had a very good track record in finding under-the-radar talent and developing it into productive assets for their team. Could Duke von Schamann be the next in that line of talent? Join the IBI's Jake Dungan for an in-depth analysis and conversation with the Akron RubberDucks right-hander as he discusses his experience with the Tribe so far, his success this season and the influence of his father.

The idea in baseball is to peak at the end of the season, and play your bestbaseball down the stretch and into the playoffs. The Akron RubberDucks are following that formula to a tee. On Friday, Akron shortstop Jaime Pedroza continued to turn heads in his new organization by going 3-for-5, with a homer and four RBI as the RubberDucks outlasted the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 9-7, at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium towin their fifth consecutive game.

It is amazing how quickly things can change in baseball. In the immediate aftermath of the trade deadline, it was Zach Walters destroying opposing pitching while James Ramsey struggled. Well, another week made a huge difference, as now Ramsey is destroying opposing pitching too, just like he did Thursday night. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks down Ramsey's debut to date, Anderson Polanco's encouraging results in Lake County, and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

After Wednesday's game was postponed, the Akron RubberDucks came out in a stalemate with Portland, until a final-inning breakthrough. Akron ended up scoring in in the seventh inning of a shortened, seven-inning game to start the day with a 1-0 win. The RubberDucks followed up with a 4-2 win in the nightcap.

In this week’s second edition of Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at the suddenly hot performance from little known shortstop prospect Ivan Castillo. He breaks him down as a prospect, explains his value, where he needs work and what his future holds. He also provides comments from Ross Atkins on new pickups Zach Walters and James Ramsey plus what the Indians are working on with Zach McAllister in Triple-A. He also provides all the details on the playoff races for all six stateside affiliates, insight and info on players like Joe Wendle, Jerrud Sabourin and Cameron Hill, and much more.

The RubberDucks (67-56) went on a bit of a hot streak, winning six of their last seven games thanks to some great pitching. Akron is now just 1.5 GB of first-place Richmond and 6.5 games ahead of third-place Bowie in the EL Western playoff race. The IBI's Spencer Davies recaps the week that was for Akron and also provides lots of news and notes on players on the team....

It was another rainy night in the organization, with four rainouts (including the big league club). But the rain did not dampen every team and it certainly did not keep Anthony Gallas down. The RubberDucks outfielder has done nothing but impress since being called up to Akron and that was no different Tuesday night. Join Tony Lastoria as he recaps Gallas' night, Danny Salazar's outing, and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

The Akron RubberDucks fell into a 4-1 deficit in the sixth inning, but piled on four runs in the final two frames to beat the Portland Sea Dogs, 5-4. Both teams combined for 11 hits in the game, but it was Akron that picked up the key hits when it mattered most. Shawn Armstrong picked up the win while Elvis Araujo was credited with his third save of the season.

In this week's first installment of Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at the development that lefty Thomas Pannone is making out in Arizona. There is a lot to like about him and Tony runs down his stuff, what he is working on and where he is making strides. Tony also provide lots of comments from the front office on players at Double-A Akron and High-A Carolina such as Elvis Araujo, Yandy Diaz, Ryan Merritt, Ben Heller and others, and provide lots of insight into the development of Justin Brantley, the plans for Nick Maronde and much more.

Jordan Smith's two-run triple highlighted a four-run first inning that led to Akron's win in Sunday afternoon's game between the RubberDucks and the Fisher Cats. The victory gave the RubberDucks back-to-back series wins on their six-game home stand this week.

The WAR Room is back again, bringing you the 2014 advanced stats for every Cleveland minor leaguer. After looking at the hitters last week, today we focus on the pitchers, including a look at what the Angels are getting in Vinnie Pestano. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks down Pestano's encouraging minor league performance and the rest of the stats from around the organization as he takes you into The WAR Room.

The story really has not changed much for Moncrief this season, as after a rough first two months from an overall performance standpoint, the 25-year-old has started getting better results without fixing his plate discipline. That still remains true, as evidenced by Moncrief's performance Saturday night. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks down Moncrief's season and the action throughout the minor league system as he takes you Around the Farm.

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats have featured one of the most effective pitching staffs in the league this season. On Saturday night, the Blue Jays affiliate welcomed newly acquired Mike Lee to the fold, and the veteran right-hander fit right in.

Cody Anderson put together a pretty good comeback performance Friday night, returning to the mound and putting up four perfect innings. Up in Columbus, Giovanny Urshela was not on the comeback trail, but he was continuing to put up big stats in his breakout season. Join Jim Piascik as he recaps Anderson and Urshela's nights and the rest of the action in the organization as he takes you Around the Farm.

Four Akron pitchers, led by starter Cody Anderson, combined on a three-hitter Friday night, as the RubberDucks won their fifth consecutive game with a 3-1 victory over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in the opener of a three-game series at Canal Park.

In this week’s Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at the surging Bobby Bradley out in Arizona and talks about how “special” he looks and why the Indians are excited about him. He also looks into the strong season to date from lefty Sean Brady, the suddenly red hot Francisco Miguel in Arizona, the quality season Duke von Schamann has put forth, provides tons of comments from the front office on players at Double-A Akron like Will Roberts, Jordan Smith, Anthony Gallas, Shawn Armstrong, Joe Colon and more!

James Ramsey did not get off to the best start in his Cleveland career, but he did his best to erase those first five games Thursday night. Meanwhile, farther south, Logan Vick continued his Carolina renaissance as he keeps benefiting from some good fortune after some wretched BABIP luck earlier in the season. Finally, even farther south and out to the west, Sicnarf Loopstok did his best to force a season's worth of performance into two games. Join Jim Piascik as he recaps all this and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

Akron righthander Will Roberts scattered six hits and allowed just one run in seven innings Thursday night as the RubberDucks completed a three-game series sweep with a 3-1 victory over the New Britain Rock Cats at Canal Park. Roberts (11-11) continued building his new career-high in wins with his 11th of the season. It was also his second against the Rock Cats (55-61).

This is a new feature piece here at the IBI that specifically looks at some of the prospects that have maybe not had as much attention they deserve for a variety of reasons but who are interesting or are coming onto the scene. This week the IBI's Tony Lastoria decided to focus in on an upper level pitcher who has really come on strong the last two seasons and established himself as one of the Indians better bullpen prospects. That person is Louis Head. Tony provides the details on his stuff, how good he is, what he is working on, his future and much more...

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!